Spren and the Almighty (SPOILERS-for Mistborn too)

[Erik Holmes]

Ok, so I was rereading and noticed something big I think.

There are no Spren AT ALL whenever Dalinar goes back in time for his various visions. And there are plenty of times where there should have been.

Dalinar even mentions that he should be seeing Terrorspren at one point with Taffa's daughter, but figures its just too dark.

There are no painspren when he and Taffa are being cut to ribbons. And no terrorspren from Taffa or her daughter.

In the prelude, even with all that death and destruction, there are no spren.

There's no anticipationspren even when 300 radiants begin to charge Feverstone Keep.

Nohadon does mention spren, such as honor spren, but I get the impression he's talking about spren like Syl and I think she's something different entirely.

Also, in all of his visions Dalinar notices something that wouldn't work during his time. Flimsy buildings, long winters, etc. He explains them all away, but during his visions there are no signs that the world is plagued by highstorms.

So here is my theory:

The Almighty tells Dalinar that most of the things he's shown him he witnessed himself. Meaning he was alive at the time.

But during Dalinar's time the Almighty is dead.

I think that in the past there were no spren for everything. Anticipationspren, terrorspren, deathspren, etc. There were the sentient ones like Syl, but they were everywhere like they are now.

The modern spren came about when the almighty was killed, they are a remnant of his power, maybe his body, etc. Like the Mist in the Final Empire. And his death brought about the highstorms as well.

I think maybe the face in the storm is the spirit of the Almighty, his body has been destroyed, but he lives on as the raging source of the storms.

Thoughts?

[Dryone]

I like it. In fact I had similar ideas, but not in so many words.

I think that what the Allmighty's shard represents (Creation? Life? Transformation?) is loose after his death and manifests itself as spren whenever an opportunity arises.

But Syl might be different. In one of the visions someone says about a Knight Radiant/Surgebinder that he has the "Nalan(sp?) bond". So apparently this bonding was possible before there were spren.

[Ryan]

I thought the same thing until I recalled that Nohadon talks about them, and then I dismissed the idea. It never occurred to me to assume that honorspren and the symbol heads (which I will call cognitionspren until we're given an official name for them) were somehow different than other spren.

I do think it's interesting that, of all the spren we've seen, only honorspren and cognitionspren exhibit intelligence. If they are in fact not like other spren, then I think it's highly probable your theory is right. The more interesting question then becomes, what exactly are they?

[Munin]

I think you have something there about the Spren. They could also be linked to Cultivation in some way, though.

...Do we know if the visions take place after the Heralds left? I suspect that the highstorms started after the Stormfather (Jezrien) abandoned his duty.

[Ryan]

I'm not sure I buy that the highstorms only started after the death of the Almighty. For one thing, that doesn't leave enough time for the flora and fauna to adapt to their presence. Even if it's been as long as 5000 years (and I think it's been less), in evolutionary terms that's a blip.

The counterpoint to that is divine intervention. They Almighty seems to have anticipated his own demise, so he may have prepared the world for his passing, either through his own actions or by asking another shard to lend a hand.

Second, a pre-highstorm Roshar would conceivably look a lot like Shin. From the one look at Shin we get, we find that the place is alien to citizens of the rest of the world. Things like soil or grass that doesn't retract are called out as remarkable. Dalinar notices none of those things in the three visions that show locales from the past.

Lastly, an event as world-changing as the start of highstorms should conceivably leave some sort of impression on the folklore of the people, as well as the historical record. We find no such impressions in the (admittedly limited) glimpses we get of folklore and history in the novel.

So, I think highstorms have been around for a long time, possibly for as long as Roshar has existed as a shard-hosting world.

[Silus - Shard of Flame]

I agree on the spren part, but not the highstorm part.  The highstorms seem to have been around as long as Roshar, like Ryan said.

This makes sense.  As seen in the Geranid interlude, change is part of the spren's nature.  And didn't Shallan mention in one of her early chapter that the name of the Almighty is translated as "He who transforms"?  I think we can take a pretty good estimate as to what the Almighty's Shard is.

[Doxedon]

Ruin wasn't able to see metal clearly but as bright lights (if I recall correctly). Could it be similar that the Almighty wouldn't see spren?

[Ryan]

If spren really are the remnants of the Almighty's power, then no. Ruin didn't seem hampered by the mists, which were the remnants of Preservation's power.

Well, if I wanted to be pedantic, I'd say that the answer is yes. Since the Almighty is dead, of course he can't see spren. But I think you meant to say Odium.

[Earendil]

But I think you meant to say Odium.

While I can't speak for anyone else's intentions, the Almighty being unable to see spren would answer why Dalinar couldn't see spren in the visions, since he was seeing through the Almighty's eyes.

Also, going back to original post, and nitpicking a little bit...

Also, in all of his visions Dalinar notices something that wouldn't work during his time. Flimsy buildings, long winters, etc. He explains them all away, but during his visions there are no signs that the world is plagued by highstorms.

While I definitely agree that the weather on Roshar has changed significantly since the Almighty died, I don't think it's fair to say that flimsy buildings are impossible in a world with highstorms.   Rather, I see flimsy buildings as another sign of a fairly rural society, with little technology.